High schools require proof of residency

SANFORD -- Students at Seminole County high schools will have to prove they are entitled to attend before they can start classes in August.

Reacting to complaints that students are lying about where they live in order to get into high-performing Seminole schools, the School Board last week called for residency checks.

"I definitely want to see this done in the high schools this year," board member Diane Bauer said.

Officials are rushing to come up with a system to verify residency of about 20,000 students expected at the county's 10 high schools when classes resume Aug. 1. The school year wrapped up Thursday.

Later, the checks might be extended to middle and elementary schools, officials said.

Already the school system hires a private investigator to check out suspected violators of attendance zones drawn for each school. Parents of other students are encouraged to snitch as well.

Although many counties welcome students from out of zone, Seminole is closing school doors to those who don't meet strict attendance rules. Otherwise, they anticipate a flood of outsiders to already crowded schools.

That's because Seminole schools routinely outperform those in neighboring counties on such measures as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. This year Seminole had the fourth-highest reading scores for third graders in the state and, along with Brevard, outpaced Central Florida districts in reading and math at other grade levels.

More and more parents who think their children will get a better education may try to sneak them into county schools, officials said.

Some parents complain that out-of-zone students -- including many from neighboring Orange County -- are taking prized seats in crowded schools such as Lake Brantley High in Altamonte Springs. Spot checks in the past have turned up many students who don't belong at Lake Brantley and other county high schools.

Students not entitled to attend are asked to leave immediately.

"This year we had around 40 to 50 students who were out of zone," said Darvin Boothe, principal of Lake Brantley. "About 90 percent of those who have found a way to trick the system are from Orange County."

Sandy Simpson, director of pupil assignment for Orange County schools, said the problem is not unique to Seminole. She said students often lie about where they live to attend certain Orange County schools, too.

Simpson said she was processing 50 to 60 cases referred by school principals involving students who will be told they cannot return next school year because they do not live in that school's zone. Simpson said she has no exact count, but dozens more students turned up during the school year.

School Board member Sandra Robinson called for the residency checks in Seminole. She suggested that students show proof of where they live when they pick up their class schedule a week or two before school starts.

"That would be a good way to make sure students aren't attending a school they should not be attending," Robinson said.

But school principals say the residency confirmation could be a nightmare, taking weeks to get needed documentation from each student.

Students might have to produce up to three documents proving where they live. Those might include a parent's voter registration, property homestead exemption, home lease, electric bill or phone bill.

Documentation now is required only when a child first enrolls in a Seminole County school. After that, spot checks are relied on to turn up offenders.

"We have an ongoing process that we feel has been effective," Superintendent Bill Vogel said.

But Sabal Point-area parents have been complaining for months that their children are being forced out of Lake Brantley in part because students who don't belong are allowed to attend. Controversial changes in high school attendance zones approved by the School Board in April will send Sabal Point students to Lyman High rather than to Brantley, where students have attended for years.

"If there were not a number of kids from out of zone, they could keep Sabal Point there," said Dennis Wells, a parent whose son must attend Lyman this fall. He is among parents challenging the rezoning in court.

Officials report that one Lake Brantley student continued to list a home address in the Sweetwater neighborhood, a few miles from the school, although for several years she had been living in Orange County near Orlando International Airport. The girl's mother dropped her off at school every day, and no one questioned her right to attend.

While residency issues occur at many county schools, most of the debate has centered on Lake Brantley.

Earlier this month the school came in 79th in Newsweek magazine's annual ranking of the top 100 high schools in the country. Only Spruce Creek High in Volusia, which came in at 54th place, was higher among Central Florida schools.